This is planet Earth and this is Her Story

So here we are then on this planet, presumably formed some 4.57 thousand million years ago from debris that happened to be around when our Sun formed, which consists mainly of hydrogen. Our little planet was small and rocky, containing lots of iron, nickel, silicon and oxygen. The Earth would have been quite hot in those days, from the energy of all the bits that had fallen into one another, making up the globe. There might have been an atmosphere with hydrogen, methane, carbondioxide, watervapour or steam and other nasties like sulphur dioxide. There was one country or continent only, Pangea.

So let's move on to the first era with a name,  the Precambrian or Archarean era; this is reckoned to have lasted some four thousand million years and ended 570 million years ago. Early in this era the surface of the Earth cooled down, to become hard and crusty, forming the supercontinent Pangea. This was formed from light SIAL rock, (containing silicate and aluminium) floating on the denser SIMA rock (containing silicate and magnesium). Meanwhile water had condensed from the steam and covered all exposed sima to form the ocean. Hydrogen, consisting of very light fast molecules, escaped from the atmosphere and leaked into space. Large objects were still falling from space, much more frequently than now. Craters up to hundreds of miles across were formed, depending on the size and speed of the alien body.

As this is Her Story it should be mentioned that the earliest Earthly document in the geological archive, preserved to this day, is the 3.96 thousand million year old Acasta gneiss in North West Canada. Late in the era the first signs of life appeared on the Earth's surface, which led immediately to the world's first large pollution disaster. These early anaerobic life forms abhorred oxygen, finding it toxic, so they did the most natural thing and dumped it. Likewise nitrogen was discharged with gay abandon and you will be pleased to know that these two primeval pollutants form 99% of the air we breathe today. Pangea cracked and split into Laurasia and Gondwanaland. At the end of the era the ocean was populated with algae, sponges, worms, fungi, jellyfish and the forebears of trilobites as well as bacteria.

Editing recently one should add that evidence of life deep deep down under the ground has been found. It may well be that life is far more abundant, deep down and in unlikely places such as the oceanfloor of the Atlantic, where America and Europe seperate. In this vehemently volcanic zone there are yeasts that withstand the 300°C temperatures. Similarly the deep down life forms have extreme conditions for their home; High pressure and temperatures. Your steward is not aware of anything known about metabolism and respiration of these creatures. We can speculate that potential energy is eaten out of rock, which usually contains a good deal of oxygen. The point of this note in this precambrian segment is that life may have started even earlier deep down in Mother Earth.

The Palaeozoic era ran for some 325 million years from about 570 million to 245 million years ago. I suppose that early animal life forms had their day then. The era is divided into the following periods:

The Cambrian period, from 570 million years ago is named after the Cambrian mountains in Wales, which were formed at this time. Europe and North America were largely covered by shallow seas. Lichens were able to live on the land. In Welsh slate you will find fosiles of trilobites which had their heyday during this period.

The Ordovician period, from 500 million years ago saw the first vertebrates (animals with internal skeletons), which were fish found in North America. Geologicaly the period is characterised by the start of the so called Caledonian mountain building process, resposible for (among others) the Scottish Highlands and the Scandinavian ridge. This was a volcanic mountain building process with large quantities of lava creating plateaux and old mountains. This may well have been triggered by large meteorite impacts.

The Silurian period, from 435 million years ago saw the first plants colonizing the land which at this stage continued large scale volcanic and seismic activity.

The Devonian period, from 395 million years ago gave the world the first forests of ferns - treesize. The seismic and volcanic activity reached a climax. Old Red Sandstone and shales were formed.

The Carboniferous period, from 345 million years ago started with the Mississipian epoch: large shallow seas which deposited sedimentary rock formations such as limestones, sandstones and shales.

Then the Pennsylvanian epoch began 325 million years ago. The first reptiles, giant dragonflies and spiders lived in huge swamps with luxuriant vegetation. Evidence from this age is European or North American coal.

During the Permian period, from 280 million years ago, the swamps dried up leading to salt beds being formed. Marls, sandstones and evaporites are rock types dating from this period. Reptiles became more diverse and numerous. Ammonites appeared, but trilobites became extinct.

the Mesozoic era which started 225 million years ago and lasted 160 million years really belonged to the dinosaurs. Judging from fosils they were "Evolutionary Top Dogs" throughout.

In the Triassic period the dry spell continued, Red Sands in North America are from this time. There were ammonites, crinoids, lamellibranchs, the first mammals and of course dinosaurs.

During the Jurassic period from 195 million years ago a lot of limestone was formed. The first birds appeared and dinosaurs grew to their maximum size.

The Cretacious period from 135 million years ago saw large scale inundations and chalk deposits. The white cliffs of Dover were made at this time. Mammals appear, but they are small and rare. Dinosaurs roam until the end of the period.

The Cenozoic era sixty-five million years ago may have started with a bang, literally, since there is evidence that there was a huge alien body collision as there is a deposit of a thin layer of iridium rich clay over the entire globe, at a geological level commensurate with the age of sixty-five million years. A Biotic crisis. No more Dinosaurs! Mammals took their chance.

The Tertiary period began with the Paleocene epoch. [Alpine mountain building]. Primitive mammals, plants with seeds. The American continent (South & North) developed a huge mountain chain, all the way from Alaska to the South Pole. Today the Andes and the Rocky Mountains bear witness to what I say.

The Eocene epoch fifty-eight million years ago saw a rise in temperature leading to widespread subtropical conditions. Evolution of primitive mammals continued apace.

In the Oligocene epoch thirty-six million years ago Alpine mountain building continued. True carnivores flourished as well as erect primates. The temperature started to fall.

Yet more Alpine mountain building in the Miocene epoch twenty-five million years ago as seas withdrew. Temperatures continued to fall slowly. Warm-blooded mammals were still the dominant group.

The Pliocene epoch thirteen million years ago ended the prolonged alpine mountain building and saw yet lower temperatures. Brrr! too cold for lots of mammals. They died.

Quaternary era, Pleistocene epoch two million years ago saw glaciations, yes! Ice Ages. There have been four major advances of the Ice, which periodically covered areas of America, Asia and Europe.

Lower Palaeolithic Culture

Prehistoric period beginning c. 1.8 million years ago during which the modern human, Homo Sapiens, evolved from the first tool-making predecessors like Australopithecus. In this Lower period there was the use of simple hand tools axes and the like. Homo Erectus lived in East Africa.

In the Middle period Neanderthal Human lived. successfully for forty thousand years. They used flint tools and were European, German even. At least your steward can trace forebears to Java Human in East Asia and perhaps Peking Human on the mainland who are also known as Homo Erectus.

In the Upper Palaeolithic period Cro-Magnon human appeared, about thirty thousand years ago. Remains have been found (in 1868) in the rockshelters of Cro-Magnon in the Dordogne area in France. They were tall Homo Sapiens, evidently the same species as your steward and most readers of this. If this does not apply to the present reader, i hail thee on behalf of our rather woe betide kind.

The beginning was promising. In the Old Stone Age (about 50,000 years ago) there were only a few of us. There was plenty of food: plants and animals. Survival did not cost much time, nor great exertion. To collect roots, berries, nuts, fruit or mushrooms and to hunt for a few rabbits, deer, kangaroo, fish, birds or lizards (or easier still: to catch them in traps and nets) did not take more than two or three hours a day. In our cosy camps, huts or caves we communally ate meat and the collected plants. The rest of the time was spent hanging around, dreaming, playing, paddling, dancing, fucking and telling tales. A few of us began painting the walls of the cave, others began carving bones and sticks, or made up new songs or traps.

Unburdened we travelled around in gangs of about 25, through the countryside, without luggage or property, without kinship or chiefs, without fear and without religion. Out of the two million years that we have existed we have only lived differently in the past ten thousand years. 99.5% of our history - that should say enough. The latter part of the Old Stone Age must have been the best deal yet, according to recent research. A long and happy time, compared with the past two hundred years of industrial nightmare.

From this premise all kinds of histories can emerge. One of which has become ours - a rather stupid mistake, with enormous consequences. the Holocene or recent epoch began eleven thousand years ago, as Pleistocene glaciers (the latest ice age) melted because the temperature was even higher than now. Humans assume pretensions of grandeur and superiority. i suppose we'll have to play along and start looking at particularly Human activities from now on, as herstory unfolds largely as history, a sad tale of cycles within cycles.

Somebody must have strewn some seeds around and discovered agriculture. It seemed like a good idea: instead of having to look for edible plants, you could grow them in the vicinity of the campsite.